Mediterranean Pizza Pot Pie -Daring Bakers’ October 2013 Challenge –

This month Hannah from Minnesota challenged us to make savory Pot Pies. She proposed us two recipes: Classic Chicken Pot Pie or Mediterranean Pizza Pot Pie. I chose the Mediterranean Pie, this surprising and delicious large Italian bread loaf stuffed with meats, cheese, vegetables and garlic. Garlic adds a subtle Mediterranean flavor.

I really enjoyed making this Pot Pie. When I made the Creamy Garlic Gravy, I remembered my childhood. I remembered the “Sauce Bechamel” that my mother made when she cooked a gratin de chou-fleur, a wonderful recipe to eat cauliflower.

This recipe is wonderful to make and so easy. I had a pizza dough in my freezer that I made one week ago. So I took it of my freezer six hours before making the Mediterranean Pizza Pie.

It’s my first Mediterranean Pizza Pot Pie! I had never made it before. When the pizza pie is ready to eat, it makes the kitchen smell wonderful.

Mix together yeast, sugar and warm water in a medium bowl. Let it rest several minutes until foamy.

Add salt, oil and up to 1 1/2 cups of bread flour, one half cup at a time, mixing with a wooden spoon until the dough picks up most of the flour and pulls together in a wad around the spoon. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface.

Sprinkle the dough with flour and knead for several minutes or until the dough is smooth and not sticking badly to clean hands as you knead (add sprinkles of flour as you knead until the stickiness subsides).

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with lightly greased plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator overnight or prepare dough in the morning and leave it in the fridge until dinner, An hour before you start prepping the pizza, punch down the dough in the bowl. Leave it in the bowl to rest at room temperature for an hour.

Melt your butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Sprinkle flour over the butter and whisk together. Cook for a short minute as it bubbles, then pour in the milk. Whisk and bring it to boil, then stir in salt, pepper and garlic. Whisk until it’s as thick as honey, which should take about a minute. Remove from the heat and stir in cheese. Set aside while you prepare the components for your filling.

Preheat the oven to hot 220 degre C./425 degre F./gas mark 7.

Lightly grease a 10-inch (25 cm) cast iron skillet or similar sized baking dish. Roll out your pizza dough on a floured surface with flour sprinkled on the top of the dough, so it spreads six inches beyond the edges of your pan on all sides. You will need plenty of flour under the doughandon the top surface to keep it from sticking to itself and the counter. Lay the dough into your pan, without pulling it, so it fits into the pan with the extra dough hanging over the edges. Repair any holes that may have appeared.

In a large bowl, stir together the garlic sauce and filling, reserving the salt, pepper and dried oregano for the top of the crust. Pile all of the filling into your pan.

Wrap the dough up over the top of the filling. Seal tightly in the middle by pinching the dough together. Using kitchen scissors, snip away any large sections of excess dough. Sprinkle a bit of salt, pepper and dried oregano onto the top of the dough.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the lower third of your oven, until the crust is golden brown. Serve immediately while warm.

Bon appetit!

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zaza-cook

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Xo, Zaza